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Thursday, February 24, 2011

FINALLY! Speaking Out Against Wiener Races On Ice

Don't get us wrong - we love wiener races. They are a great opportunity to spend quality time with your Dachshund, have fun getting their attention them from 50 feet away, and seeing whose Dachshund can dash down that track the fastest for a ball, a toy, or a piece of fried chicken. Wiener races are truly entertaining for kids of all ages, and they are a great way to socialize your dog.
When wiener races go bad is when there is any talk whatsoever of them being organized as a public exhibition - whether for wagering at a racing facility, or where the Dachshund's human is not directly involved with the racing to ensure the safety of their charge. We've covered a bit of this in When Wiener Races Go Bad.
In our opinion, wiener races also go bad when the Dachshunds race on ice. Obviously, Dachshunds are prone to having some sort of back issue or IVDD problem, and we see no reason to push the envelope by asking them to run at full speed across a slippery surface of ice. It's a no-brainer.
We know that many of our readers feel the same way, but finally some folks in Huntsville, Alabama, are doing something about it with a boycott of the Havoc game. Excerpt from ABC31:

The Huntsville Havoc will host a wiener dog race on the ice this Saturday as they try to raise money for the Ryan Newman Foundation. However, Dachshund owners say that’s a bad idea.Karen Borden is the president of Dixie Dachshund Rescue. She says, “I think it's a great fundraising event, weiner races. But, I was really upset with the environment that it was going to be held in.”Borden says running the dogs on ice is dangerous because the breed is already prone to back problems. She says, “Because of the overbreeding that has gone on, many are born with the propensity to have blown discs or bad disks.”Valley residents are so upset, they have created a page on Facebook encouraging folks to boycott this weekend’s game. They say it endangers and exploits the breed. However, not everyone agrees with the boycott. Melissa Horne is a Veterinarian at the Animal Care Clinic in Huntsville. She says, “As long as they're not having any problems and don't have a history of problems, there shouldn't be any reason they can't participate.” On Tuesday, Ashley Balch, the HAVOC's Vice President issued a statement addressing the safety concerns. HE SAYS "The race will take place at the first intermission, after the ice has been cut-up by the player's skates for a full period and is no longer very slick to the people or the dogs."If the surface is not slick, Dr. Horne says running should not be a risk. “If it's agility or something like that where they're going up ramps and things like that then that may not be the best exercise for them,” she says.

Just a few weeks ago, there were wiener races on ice at a Knoxville Ice Bears hockey game. The youtuber notes: In the second heat, watch for a guy in a blue shirt to wipe out. And in the final race watch the bottom of the screen for two dogs to crash. Hilarious!

6 comments:

Let's put it this way I wouldn't let Baron do this...why would I want someone elses Dachshund doing this...since it could led to an injury. Of course I wasn't to thrilled (either) with the dirt races where the young boy appears to be tossing his dachshund into the air! (One of your previous posts).

Thank you for writing an intelligent and coherent article on the subject - coverage in Huntsville has obviously been skewed towards pandering to the hockey team.

At the very least I hope this educates people, and that other cities can start standing up and saying "this is not ok" with the races on ice rinks. I'll admit I was appalled when I first heard it, and am even more appalled now at how many people actually think WE are the nutjobs for trying to get it canceled.

We just heard about this race yesterday and considered entering Oskar because I thought that they'd put down some kind of material over the ice. There isn't any way I'd let Oskar run on the ice. Sure it has been chopped up some, but it is still quite slick and very cold. The Havoc folks raise money for many worthy causes and their hearts are in the right place, but this race idea was not thought through from a couple angles. Karen Borden is a friend and she is dedicated to the Dixie Dachshund organization and the safety of these dogs. Good idea, wrong venue!

I am still so very upset over this whole race I could SCREAM! I still cannot believe it. PETA has contacted HAVOC owners; nothing. They contacted the Ryan Newman Foundation who, sadly, said that "it's ok they way they are raising this money". My next step is to email them and tell them that I will boycott their foundation. If anything happens at that race tonight, you can BET I will be be all over the news!

I really have a problem with the highly organized dachshund races, ice or not. I wanted to comment on your Feb 21 post where the happy child was tossing his dachshund forward to run his little heart out.I know dogs and humans can have fun with this but, as with many 'sports', big is not better. High competition, excitement, crowds...I'm just surprised that more dogs aren't hurt. In this case, aren't folks really showing up hoping to see lots of little dogs wipe out on the ice? What's fun in that?

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